3223. Salvation As It Is Now Received

A Sermon Published On Thursday, November 10, 1910.

Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. {1Pe 1:8,9}

For other sermons on this text:

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 698, “Seeing is Not Believing, but Believing is Seeing” 689}

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3223, “Salvation as it is Now Received” 3224}

   Exposition on 1Pe 1:1-12 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2653, “Head and the Body, The” 2654 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on 1Pe 1:1-16 Mt 10:37-40 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3395, “Saviour’s Precious Blood, The” 3397 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on 1Pe 1; 5:1-9 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2707, “Antidote to Satan’s Devices, An” 2708 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on 1Pe 1 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3223, “Salvation as it is Now Received” 3224 @@ "Exposition"}

   {See Spurgeon_SermonTexts "1Pe 1:9"}

1. We usually speak of the greater benefits of salvation as being in the future. We desire that we may be found in Christ in the day of his appearing, and that we may have a share in his eternal glory. But, beloved, salvation is not another thing of the future; it is very decidedly a present matter, a blessing to be possessed now, and to be enjoyed now, and our text brings out that idea very clearly. Peter does not write about the elect strangers hoping to receive salvation eventually; but putting it all in the present tense, he says, “Whom having not seen, you love; believing, you rejoice…; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” The perfection of salvation is reserved for the second coming of the Lord; for, at present, the body is mortal because of sin, it is subject to pain, and it will die, unless the Lord should come first, and it will for a while lie in the grave. But, at his appearing, shall be a resurrection of the body, and then body and soul reunited shall experience the fulness of salvation. In that respect, therefore, salvation still remains in part a matter for the future; yet, with the true child of God, the essence of salvation is a thing of today. Even now, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls.

2. I am going to speak on this matter in the following way. First, we will enquire, what part of salvation do we receive here and now? Secondly, how do we now receive salvation? And then, thirdly we will make the solemn enquiry for all here, Have we received salvation, and if so, how far have we gone in the reception of it?

3. I. My first question is, WHAT PART OF SALVATION DO WE RECEIVE HERE AND NOW?

4. My first answer to the question is that, in a certain sense, we already possess all of it, for all salvation is wrapped up in Christ, and Christ is ours if we are truly believing in him. Today he is our Saviour and our All in all; and he is already “made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” There is nothing of salvation that is outside of Christ; and therefore, since Christ is ours, the entirety of salvation is ours. It is ours by the grip of faith, and the grace of hope,—that living hope which is sure to become a reality, that well-grounded hope which cannot be disappointed. Our expectation is of so vivid a character that it brings, not only near to us, but into actual present possession, joys which as yet are not revealed; so again I say that, in a sense, it is true for us to say that we have received, in faith and hope, the salvation of our souls if we have truly believed in Jesus; for,—

   The moment a sinner believes,

   And trusts in his crucified God,

   His pardon at once he receives,

   Redemption in full through his blood.

5. But, secondly, if we are to answer the question distinctly, and in detail, we should say that, if we have really trusted in Jesus, we have so far received the salvation of our souls that we have, at this moment, the assurance of the perfect pardon for all our sins. Let me repeat those words: if we have really believed in Jesus, we have, at this moment, the assurance of the perfect pardon for all our sins. And I will venture to put it as strongly as this, and to say that those white-robed spirits before the eternal throne are not more clear of the guilt of sin before the judgment bar of infallible justice than was the dying thief the very moment that he turned his eye in faith to Christ on the cross of Calvary, or than you are if you are now trusting in the same Saviour, or than I am as now depending only on the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. The pardon which God gives to believers in Jesus is not a semi-pardon; it is not a putting away of some of their sins, or a putting them away for a time; but it is a perfect putting away of their sins for ever, a casting of them, once and for all, behind God’s back, into the depths of the sea, so that they shall never be found again; yes, they shall be so completely put away that they shall cease to be, according to that divine declaration, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none.” Oh, what a glorious truth this is, that, although a poor tried child of God may feel the force of his inbred sin, and continually have to struggle with it; and though he may, from day to day, be conscious of his many imperfections, yet, before those eyes that see everything, there is no spot to be seen on the believer in Christ,—I mean, no spot in this respect, that he can ever be condemned or punished for his sin. His sin is finally and for ever pardoned. God has blotted it out, like a cloud that has been blown away and completely dispersed. Therefore let our spirits rejoice if we are truly trusting in Jesus; and oh, that some, who have never done so before, would now look believingly to him! If they do look, this moment they shall obtain perfect pardon, and so shall receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls. I cannot help repeating that sweet verse of Kent’s which I have often repeated to you, which sounds so strange, but which is, I believe, absolutely true:—

   Here’s pardon for transgressions past,

   It matters not how black their cast;

   And, oh my soul, with wonder view,

   For sins to come here’s pardon too.

6. And next, beloved, we have received the salvation of our souls in this sense, that the alienation of our hearts from God is now effectively removed. We are saved from that alienation, and that is a very great part of salvation. Once, our backs were turned towards God; but now, our faces are turned towards him. At one time, we did not admire his character, nor desire, to imitate him, nor wish for his friendship, nor perhaps even so much as think of his existence, much less did we aspire to give him glory. But now, having believed in Jesus, we have undergone a complete change. We are not yet what we ought to be; we are still a long way off what we expect one day to be, yet we desire to be what we should be. We admire the character of God, even though we have to prostrate ourselves in the dust when we see how far our own character is from likeness to it, and the whole set and current of our desires is towards purity and holiness. If we could have our way, our way should not be a sinful one. If our will could be gratified, our will would be that God should have his will with us, and that we should be in all things conformed to the divine will. All true Christians are conscious that it is so with them, and this is a great part of salvation. Indeed, it is destruction to be alienated from God, and it is salvation to be reconciled to him. It is destruction to anyone to be a lover of sin. The man who loves evil is a destroyed man, a man who is broken in pieces; what should be the glory of his manhood is absent from him. But when he is brought to love God, the ruins are rebuilt; and though, as yet, every part of the renovated building may not be finished, the divine Architect, who drew its plan from eternity, will never leave the work until the last stroke of the sacred hammer and chisel shall have been given, and the completed structure shall have had the capstone placed on it amid shoutings of “Grace, grace to it.” Blessed be God that we have this salvation now, in that we are saved from our former alienation of heart from God.

7. In the next place, we have received the salvation of our souls in the sense that we are saved from the killing power of sin. Before we believed in Jesus, we were not capable of those sacred actions which are now our daily delight. We could not pray. We may have “said our prayers,” as so many do, but, the living breath of true God-inspired prayer was not in us. How could it be in us while we were still dead in trespasses and sins? We could not believe. How could we do so, when we had not received the gift of faith from the ever-blessed Spirit? The fact is, we were under a terrible bondage; and just as a corpse is under bondage to death, and cannot stir hand or foot, lip or eye, so we were under bondage to sin and Satan. But we are under that deadly bondage no longer; for we are living men, and free men in Christ Jesus our Lord, who has overcome that death for us. Now we can pray; now we can praise;—not always as we would like to do so; but, still, the aspiration is there, and the power is there, and when God graciously helps us by his Holy Spirit, we rise to a high degree of vigour in both those sacred exercises. So, when the killing power of sin is gone, what a mercy it is, what a bliss it is; and in this sense also we receive the salvation of our souls.

8. More than that, beloved, the reigning power of sin has now gone from every believer. Once, we were slaves to sin, under sin’s domination; sin said to us, “Go,” and we went; or sin said to us “Stay! Do not obey God”; and we stayed, and at sin’s bidding disobeyed God; but, now, sin no longer has dominion over us; for we are not under the law, but under grace; and though we even now sometimes hear sin’s mandate, and the flesh inclines us to yield obedience to it, there is a blessed spirit of rebellion against sin within our heart, so that we will not obey sin’s commands, but seek after what is just and holy and right in the sight of God.

9. Now I am going to take another step, and possibly some of the feebler folk among us may think it is too big a step for them to take; yet I pray God that many of us may practically prove that we have taken it. Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, it is possible, and it ought to be the general rule, for Christians to enjoy present salvation in the sense of being now free, to a very high degree, from sin in their daily life and conduct; indeed, more, they ought not to be satisfied without aspiring to be absolutely free from it. It is after this that they should seek, even though they do not attain to it. I am fully persuaded that perfection in the flesh is not attainable here; yet that truth, as I believe it is, has been used by a great many people as a kind of damper to the sacred ambition of renewed spirits. I do not think it ought to be used like that, nor that it would legitimately be so used. Suppose I am a sculptor, if it is not possible for me to attain to the perfection of Praxiteles or Phidias, yet I must come as near to them as I can; and I shall not be a master of the sculptor’s art unless I seek to imitate those who have been the most proficient in it. Suppose also that, through the infirmity of the flesh, I shall never in this life be perfectly like Christ, yet I must have no lower model, nor must I say to myself, “I cannot imitate that perfect model”; but, crying to the Strong One for strength, I must believe that the omnipotence of God can overcome every sin, and also believe that it is possible for me, by the grace of God, to get every sin beneath my feet; and I must never say to any one sin, “I shall have to spare you, for you are too strong for God to slay.” It would be blasphemy to talk like that.

10. I fear that some brethren think that a quick temper can never be overcome; but, brethren, it must be overcome. The reason why so many professors fall into that sin so often is that they do not believe that it is conquerable, and therefore they do not pray it down. Another person, perhaps, has a sluggish disposition, and he thinks, “I must always be so; it is my nature, and the flesh is weak.” It is true that the flesh is weak, but it is equally true that God is almighty; and it is not our own strength but divine strength that is to procure the deliverance of our soul from sluggishness, so we must cry mightily to the Lord for grace to overcome this or any other sin to which we are particularly prone. God has not put us into Canaan, and said to us, “You may spare some of those Amorites, and Perizzites, and Canaanites, and Hittites, and Girgashites, and Hivites, and Jebusites”; but his command to us is, “Kill them all, do not let one of them escape.” There must be no sin tolerated in any believer in Christ; and though you are not perfect, you must never say, “Up to this point, I am perfect; and that is as far as God can make me perfect.” Dear friends, do you believe in an infinitely powerful God? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is able to work in you anything and everything that he wills to work? Then, brethren, do not stop short of the highest point that is attainable by mortal men, and seek to be “holy as God is holy.” Alas! some professors of religion are hardly even moral; their pretended Christianity is a stench even in the nostrils of worldlings, for they do not even conform to the common rules of ordinary decent society. But what true Christians long for, is to possess real holiness, to walk with God as Enoch did, to abide in Christ, to shun every false way, to have—

   “A heart from sin set free,”—

and a conscience tender as the apple of the eye. Oh, that we could all come up to this standard! And we can: it is possible; this is attainable, by the grace of God, through the effective working of the Holy Spirit. I again say that I do not think that absolute perfection can be reached here, but I cannot tell how near we can come to it. That I would like to prove by happy personal experience; and I beseech every brother and sister in Christ here to join with me in seeking to know how we may, even now, receive the salvation of our souls from the power of sin.

11. I am quite sure that there are many Christians who have been completely delivered from sins into which they readily fell in their early days. You know that infants suffer from a great many diseases; all through the period of babyhood, they are liable to various ailments which no longer afflict us who are grown-up men and women. So it is with some Christians; when they have grown in grace to the stature of men in Christ, they do not have the little complaints of babyhood. I do not say that this is true of all professors of Christianity; for, alas! there are many of them who have to be wheeled around in baby carriages although they are fifty or sixty years of age. While they were little children, we had to dandle them, on our knees, and carry them in our arms, and give them milk for babies; and they still want milk, and still want dandling, now that they are getting grey,—grey-bearded babies! But we want to get them out of that state of babyhood, for there is something far better even on earth than being spiritually mere babes all our lives. May all of us who are in Christ grow to the stature of men in Christ! The more of such men any church shall have among her members, the better will it be for her, and the more God will be glorified. Let us who are the Lord’s resolve that everything that is to be had from God this side of heaven, we will have. Let us not be content to get just inside Christ’s house, and to sit down there, and say, “Thank God, we are safe; we have gotten over the threshold,” but let us seek to press onward to the chief table of rich refreshment and inner fellowship with Christ, and to know the secret of the Lord which is with those who fear him, so that we may find that “glory begun below” of which Dr. Watts so truly sings,—

      The men of grace have found

      Glory begun below;

   Celestial fruits on earthly ground

      From faith and hope may grow.

12. II. And now, secondly, (and with greater brevity, not professing to dive into the depths of the text, but merely skimming its surface, as the swallow touches the brook with its wing,) HOW DO WE NOW RECEIVE THE SALVATION OF OUR SOULS?

13. First, it is entirely from Jesus Christ: “whom having not seen, you love, in whom, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” Everything of salvation that a believer receives, comes to him out of the one storehouse in which all fulness resides; that is, in Christ Jesus. Never believe, Christian, that you will ever get any grace out of yourself. It is a dreary and useless task to send the bucket down into the dry well of our nature in the hope of drawing up a supply of grace. Oh no, beloved, look away from self, and only look to Jesus, for from him, and only from him, do we receive the salvation of our souls.

14. Then note that the channels through which we receive salvation from Christ are first, faith: “in whom, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice.” None of us have seen Christ, we sometimes foolishly wish that we had; but believing in him is better than merely seeing him; for many saw him when he was on the earth, and yet perished, but no man ever truly believed in him, and then perished. Faith is that eye which savingly sees Christ on the cross, and it is only as we continue to look to him by faith that we receive the present salvation of our souls from sin. You can never kill any sin, if you turn your eye away from the cross. There is no stream that can cleanse from inward lusts but the precious blood of Jesus that flowed on Calvary. Whoever has been victorious over any temptation, it may truly be said of him, “He overcame through the blood of the Lamb.” So that there is no way of receiving the blessings of a present salvation except through believing in Jesus.

15. Our text also tells us that another channel of salvation is love: “Whom having not seen, you love.” The love of Christ is the great force that enables grace to kill sin. The love of Christ and sin are like the two balances of a pair of scales; if sin goes up in our esteem, our love for Christ is going down; and whenever our love for Christ goes up, sin must go down in the same proportion. With little love for Christ, you will walk unwarily; but with great love for your Lord, you will walk carefully before him, and your practical holiness will be revealed to all around you. Though we have not seen Christ, we love him; and through that love we receive a further assurance of the salvation of our souls from inward as well as outward sin. This is the precious golden conduit through which the power of divine grace flows freely into our souls. Oh, for more fervent love for Christ!

16. Then our text says that we also receive this present assurance of salvation through joy in the Lord: “In whom…believing, you rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” This joy is a flaming sword like what the cherubim waved at the gates of the garden of Eden; it blazes, it cuts, it kills. Once let us really rejoice in Christ as our Saviour, and we become guarded from sin immediately. I believe that many sins are hatched beneath the wings of doubt and fear; but when we get away from those ugly things, and live rejoicing in God, then we say “Down with sin! We cannot endure to have it in our lives.” He who has sweet flowers in his hand flings away evil-smelling weeds, and he who has such a diamond of heaven as “joy unspeakable and full of glory” casts away the pebble-stones of earth with which he was pleased before. He who rejoices with joy unspeakable is not likely to be allured by the paltry joys of earth; they have lost all their former charm for him. Their siren songs have no attraction to his ear, for he has heard the celestial note of the harps of heaven. What bliss it is to be able to rejoice in Christ as our Saviour, for this guarantees for us the salvation of our souls, not only now, but for all eternity!

17. Why does the apostle say that we rejoice with joy unspeakable? Is it not, first, because this joy is too great to be told? He is indeed rich who cannot count his wealth, he has so much that he does not know how much he has; and he is indeed full of joy who has so much joy that he cannot tell anyone how much he has.

18. I think also that Peter calls our joy “unspeakable” because, if we were to try to explain or describe it to carnal men, they could not understand us. You cannot explain to a person who has never tasted honey, how sweet it is; neither can you explain to a man who does not know the joy of the Lord how joyful a thing it is. He could not comprehend what your words meant; you would be talking to him in an altogether unknown language.

19. Moreover, brethren, you all know the old proverb, “Still waters run deep.” The worldling’s joy barely covers the stones of his daily sorrow, and therefore it babbles like a shallow brook as it runs along in its narrow bed; but the Christian’s joy is broad and deep, and it scarcely makes any sound as it majestically rolls on like some great river on its way to the sea. The Christian’s joy is unspeakable, because it is unfathomable, even by those who enjoy it; and wherever this joy comes it has a purifying effect, delivering us from sin, and making us receive the salvation of our souls.

20. This joy is also said to be “full of glory.” Now, the joys of this world have no true glory in them; look at the worldly man who is most joyful and glad, what glory is there about him? Any so-called joy that comes through sin is just the opposite of glorious. The drunkard’s joy puts him below the level of beasts; but there is an elevating power about the Christian’s joy,—the joy of salvation, the joy of adoration, the joy of gratitude, the joy of love for God, the joy of being made like Christ, the joy of expecting his coming;—all this is glorious joy, and it is “full of glory.” I recently saw a picture representing the Coming Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. It represented him as having in his hand cannons, triumphant arches, flags, kings, emperors, and all the insignia of royalty, and blowing them away as chaff is driven before the wind. Come, oh you blessed Coming Man; you know how we need you! Well, he will come at the right time, and all the glory of this world will fly away just like that when he comes. But our joy is full of a glory which the Coming Man, who is “over all, God blessed for ever,” will keep on increasing so that it shall be for us all the more full of glory for ever and ever. Such joy, as this glorious joy is, makes us look down on the world’s joys and sin’s joys as utterly despicable; and so, by lifting us up above them, it further enables us to receive here and now the salvation of our souls.

21. III. There was much more that I wanted to say, but my time has almost gone. In the good old Puritan times, they had an hour-glass in the pulpit; and when the sands were running out, the minister was warned that it was time to stop, but he often turned it over again, and went on for another hour. I cannot do that, so I must hasten to a close with the solemn enquiry, HAVE WE RECEIVED THE SALVATION OF OUR SOULS; AND IF SO, HOW FAR HAVE WE GONE IN THE RECEPTION OF IT?

22. The first and most vital question for you, my hearers, is this, have you received the salvation of your souls? I know that you have heard about salvation, and many of you know what the Bible says about it; but that is not enough. “I know what salvation means,” one says; “I know the way.” Then take heed that you do not perish in the light. If two men have to go out in the dark, which is the one to whom the darkness is the more dense! Why, the one who has been sitting in the light! If you go out of your brilliantly illuminated room, you realize how dark it is outside where there is no light above or below. Take care, you who are sitting in the light today, lest for you there should be “reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” because you shut your eyes to the light, and will not receive the salvation of your souls.

23. “Ah, but!” say some, “we profess to be saved.” I am glad to hear that, and I would not even hint that your profession is not sincere, but I would urge you to hint to yourself that there is a possibility that all may not be well with you. Are there not many who think they have received the salvation of their souls, but who have not really done so? In St. Peter’s, at Rome, I saw monuments to James III, Charles III, and Henry IX, kings of England; but these potentates were quite unknown to me. Certainly, they never reigned in this land, so the royal names on their monuments are only a subject for ridicule and scorn. And you profess and call yourselves Christians; if you really are so, it is good; but if you are not so, I can conceive that, in the next world, there may be spirits that shall say to you, “You professed to be Christians, yet you are in hell! You sat at the Lord’s table, and ate the bread and drank the wine in memory of his death,—that death in which you had no saving interest, the atonement that never redeemed you!” Oh my hearers, may this never be true of any of us; but may God, in his infinite mercy, save us, and so may we really and truly receive, and not merely profess to have received the salvation of our souls! If we have really cast ourselves on Christ, though we have not seen him; if we do truly love him; and if we have, to some extent at least, the joy unspeakable and full of glory within our hearts, then indeed we have received the salvation of our souls.

24. Then comes the other question, how far have we received this salvation? If we had a sacred thermometer given to us in order to measure our spiritual temperature, what would our temperature be? Are you, brother, above freezing-point? I fear that some here are below zero. Have any of you come up to anything like blood-heat yet? What a wondrous heat of love that must have been when the life-blood of Jesus flowed from his wounds as he hung on the cross of Calvary! Oh, that we could always have our religion at such blood-heat. Have we reached that spiritual temperature yet? There have been saints, and there are still saints willing to suffer the loss of all things for Christ’s sake. Nothing has been too hot, too hard, or too heavy for them to endure in his blessed service. They have counted shame and loss to be honour and gain if they might only “glorify God, and enjoy him for ever.” Have we come anywhere near to them? We do have occasional communion with Christ, but do we have continuing fellowship with him? Do we dwell near to Christ?

25. But what about those who have not yet believed in him, I heard an evangelist say, one night in this Tabernacle, “‘He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.’ H—A—S,—that spells got it.” That is an odd way of spelling, but it is sound divinity. May the Lord enable you all to believe in Jesus! Then you will have got it, as our friend said; or, as Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote, “Believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {1Pe 1}

1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,—

It must have been very pleasant to his heart to write those words;—not “Peter, who denied his Master”; not “Peter, full of imperfections and infirmities, the impetuous and changeable one of the twelve”; but “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,” as truly sent by God as any of the other apostles, and with as much of the Spirit of his Master resting on him: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,”—

1, 2. To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,—

You might go for fifty years to some places of worship, and never hear the word “elect” even mentioned. Modern ministers seem to be ashamed of the grand old doctrine of election; but it was not so with the apostles and the early Christians, they were accustomed to speak of each other as the elect of God. The doctrine of election was most precious to their hearts, and therefore Peter writes: “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,”—

2. Through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied.

We not only need grace, but we need much grace, and also peace; and we need a greatly increased measure of both those blessings. Do not be satisfied, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, with the grace that you already have. Be thankful for it, but ask for the divine multiplication of it; regard the grace which you have already received as being like the boy’s loaves and fishes, and expect that Christ will continue to multiply it for you and for thousands of others all around you: “Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied.”

3-5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 948, “A String of Pearls” 939}

What a vast mass of meaning is packed away in these words! Men’s books, even when they are good, are like gold-leaf; a little precious metal is very thinly hammered out so as to cover a wide surface, but almost every word in the Bible seems to contain a whole mine of heavenly wealth.

Note, beloved, what Peter says concerning your new birth; you are begotten by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. At your first birth, you were born in sin; but now you have been born again, through grace, by the almighty power of God. Notice, also, to what you are born,—to a hope that is full of life, a living hope, a hope of immortality, a hope whose root is in the grave of Christ, the empty grave from which he has risen, and which is the assurance that, because he has risen, you also shall rise. See, further, to what you have been born: “to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that does not fade away.” See, also, how that inheritance is permanently secured for you, for it is “reserved in heaven for you”; and see, too, how you are kept for it, for you “are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

6. In which you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if needs be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 222, “The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing” 215}

What! can there be rejoicing and heaviness in the same heart at the same time? Oh, yes! our experience has taught us that we can be, at the same moment, in heaviness of heart and yet rejoicing in the Lord.

7-9. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it is tried with fire, might be found to praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

You have that already if you have believed in Jesus; you have received a present, immediate salvation. There are some who do not understand or realize this, they miss the whole joy of our holy religion. They are always hoping to be saved eventually; but those who are in Christ Jesus by a living personal faith receive here and now the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls.

10-12. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you: searching what, or what manner of the time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating, when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they ministered the things, which are now reported to you by those who have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1524, “Your Personal Salvation” 1524} {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2697, “Angelic Interest in the Gospel” 2698}

Observe, dear brethren, that the prophets did not speak without due consideration, but they “enquired and searched diligently” into the meaning of that salvation of which they “testified beforehand.” Holy Scripture must not be read by us carelessly. We ought to peer, and pry, and search into it to get at its hidden meanings; and the prophecies as well as the rest of the Word are to be searched into by us on whom the ends of the earth have come.

Observe, also, that this divine revelation is of great interest to the holy angels before the throne of God; they stand gazing down as if they were trying to understand the wonderful mystery of redemption, and the great and glorious gospel of the grace of God.

13-16. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but just as he who has called you is holy, so be holy in all kinds of conduct; because it is written, “Be holy; for I am holy.”

Do not be only moral, upright, truthful, and so forth; but “be holy.” That is a very high attainment: “Be holy”; and observe the reason for obedience to the command: “for I am holy.” Children should be like their fathers; there are many children who bear, in their very faces, evidences of their sonship; you know who their fathers were by the image that the children bear. Oh, that it were always so with all the children of God: “Be holy; for I am holy.”

17. And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:—

You are only here for a while, you are sojourners, foreigners, pilgrims passing through a country where you have no abiding-place; be therefore careful and even fearful lest you should become like the people among whom you dwell; have a holy dread of the contaminations of sin: “Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear”:—

18-21. Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who truly was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for you, who by him believe in God, who raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

What a well of joy this always was to Peter, that God had raised his Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead, and this is our joy today. This is one of the facts which are proved beyond all question, that Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, and was buried in Joseph’s tomb, did actually rise again. This is the corner-stone of the Christian faith; one of the great facts on which we base our confidence concerning salvation by Jesus Christ.

22, 23. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to sincere love of the brethren, see that you love each other with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not by corruptible seed, but by incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and endures for ever.

God’s Word never dies, God’s Word never changes. There are some who think we ought to get a new gospel every few years or even every few weeks; but that was not Peter’s notion. He wrote, and he was divinely inspired to write, concerning “the Word of God, which lives and endures for ever.”

24, 25. For all flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away: but the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 999, “The Withering Work of the Spirit” 990}

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